Police use stun gun on Groton man wearing only socks and underwear

Groton Town police officers Tuesday used a stun gun on a city man who police said was high on PCP and dressed only in his underwear and socks when he allegedly approached officers with two knives.

Police said two young children were at the 29 Atlanta Court home during the incident, which led to the arrest of Justin Henderson, 30, of the same address. Henderson appeared in New London court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to two counts of risk of injury to a minor, second-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree breach of peace and interfering with an officer. He’s held in lieu of a court-ordered $80,000 bond and is next to scheduled to appear Dec. 19.

According to a probable cause report, police responded to Atlanta Court around 7:15 p.m. after someone called 911 reporting Henderson had come home after smoking “PCP” and was “acting crazy.”

“I am familiar with that address as I responded there on 9/6/11 for the report of a male who had consumed PCP and was naked with a knife,” Officer James Bonanno wrote in his report. “On 9/6/11, the male was identified as Justin Henderson.”

During last year’s incident, police were able to take Henderson, who was in the backyard naked with a knife, into custody after a brief standoff. No one was injured but Henderson was found in April guilty of second-degree reckless endangerment, possession of narcotics and interfering with an officer and put on probation.

On Tuesday police found Henderson inside the doorway of the residence holding an older man by the shoulders. He started yelling vulgarities as officers arrived and wore nothing but underwear and his socks. The officers drew their stun guns, the report says, and Henderson eventually let the man go and went into the house towards the kitchen. When the officers enter the home and ordered Henderson to show his hands, he turned and walked towards the officers with two knives in his hands. One officer used his stun gun and Henderson was taken into custody.

During the incident, Bonanno reported he saw a young boy holding a small dog walk out of the bathroom. The boy, Bonanno wrote, “appeared upset and scared.”

While officers waited for an ambulance, Henderson began to “vomit violently.” Later discharged from the hospital, police said Henderson told them he had smoked a cigarette dipped in formaldehyde in New London and didn’t remember anything after that. Henderson told police he was supposed to be home at 7:15 p.m. to take his son to basketball practice.

Henderson has a lengthy criminal history, including previous drug convictions, carrying a pistol without a permit and second-degree attempted robbery.